


Waking up

by Coreword-Clumsy (perrythedeer)



Category: Epithet Erased (Cartoon)
Genre: Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Gun Usage, Me and Sai will make you guys like their friendship if its the last thing we do, Nightmares, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, they probably help eachother with the trauma that comes from that alot ok?, they're both missin' an eye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23280907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perrythedeer/pseuds/Coreword-Clumsy
Summary: Hey so I. Me and @randomguygoesviral are currently rewriting the redwood run arc to include Meryl and, we both agreed that Meryl would keep Ramsey under house arrest because she'd feel bad keeping him in prison fkdsngjk. Percy agrees with this mess and visits a lot to check on them both.Ramsey voice: what if i just cared about my captor insteadMeryl: unrealistic, but thank you
Relationships: Ramsey Murdoch & Meryl Lockhart
Kudos: 17





	Waking up

Ramsey shot up in bed, pushing himself up with both hands as his heart stuttered in his chest- waking up to a scream wasn't what he'd been expecting tonight, and Basil had leapt off the bed, the cat running out of his room and into the one across the hall. Was that _Meryl?_

He pulled himself out of bed, heading out of his room and gently knocking on Meryls bedroom door- all he got in responsive was a weak sob paired with "stay away". Alright. The cat was meowing at the door, distressed- probably sensing Meryl's mood too. Ramsey huffed gently and opened the door as carefully and slowly as he could.

"Merrie, it's jus' me." Meryl didn't seem to see him, and Ramsey blinked, waiting until his vision adjusted vaguely in the darkness- she was hunched over, her hands over one side of her face, protecting her eye. Okay, _that_ made sense. 

Ramsey carefully lifted his hands to be up on either side next to his head, approaching Meryl slowly and humming softly so she knew he was coming. "You want your gun?" he said, halfway there- and that got Meryls attention more, she looked up at him, her eye was small and terrified. She looked... kind of pathetically weak hiding in the darkness.

It made the rats heart hurt vaguely. He edged closer to the bookshelf she kept her gun on at night, and grabbed it off the shelf, holding it by the barrel and offering it to her when he was close enough. Meryl took it from him and pressed it against the bed, messing with the safety switch.

"You alright?" Ramseys voice was quiet, and Meryl shook her head quickly- that... was fair, she looked like she was gonna be gone back to memory town any moment. He sat down on the side of the bed, "Talk to me?"

The redhead glanced up at him, her blue eye scanning him up and down, almost like he could be a threat. She just covered her eye more with her hand, grabbing and pulling some hair over it. Ramsey hummed softly and nodded. "Yeah. I know. Does it hurt?" Meryl slowly nodded, and he sighed.

"I get it. Want me to grab you some painkillers Merrie?" Meryl nodded again, and Ramsey stood up, heading out of the room and into the bathroom to search for the painkillers- he was holding the bottle when he heard the gunshot. Oh boy. What the hell did she break?

He darted out of the bathroom and caught himself on the doorframe skidding into her room, the cat was hissing at her, standing on one of Meryls chairs- that now had a bullet hole in it. Must've made too much noise. Meryl was pointing her gun shakily at Basil. 

"Merrie-" OH OKAY- Thats a gunshot directed towards him- he instinctively turned himself to gold in the general area the bullet would've hit. "Okay, Meryl, put the gun down. It's just me, it's Ramsey."

She stared up at him, and lowered the gun slowly, her hands were shaking, and her mouth opened, a few second of silence, followed by "Im sorry...im ssorry im sssorrryy" Ramsey flinched, and moved forward to sit back with her, putting his hand over one of hers. "Hey, you didn't hurt anybody, deep breaths, Meryl." She nodded a little.

Ramsey took out some of the painkillers while listening to her breathing, looking at the bedside table- good, she already had water. He slipped the pills into her hand, she was probably shaking too much to hold the glass, and he didn't really want her to end up dropping it, so he picked it up.

"Tilt your head back" "I don't-" Ramsey rolled his eyes vaguely, "I don't want you to drop it, Merrie. Just listen." she blinked, and slowly nodded, letting Ramsey actually help with the water and med situation. He put the glass down afterward and watched her slump over, her shoulders were shaking still, and after a few minutes, he heard her sob. He just sighed, putting his hand back over her and gently squeezing it.

"I'm sorry" Her voice was quiet, and Ramsey just shrugged a little, shaking his head "It's alright, think of it like... payment, for the last time I woke you up." they both remembered that time- Ramsey had been dreaming about Irving, he hadn't woken up _screaming_ but he'd woken up crying, and Meryl was a light sleeper.

She nodded softly, and moved her hand so she could hold onto his and squeeze it. A moment passed, and she leaned forward so her head hit his shoulder. "Want contact?" Ramsey asked, feeling her nod against him, and he hummed, re-positioning so he was sitting behind her, letting her move so she was between his legs and pressed up to his front.

Meryl put both her hands on his knees, Ramsey didn't really like that he could feel the gun against his leg, but he didn't comment on it, it made her feel safe. Plus he was like, ninety percent sure the safety was actually on right now. She took a shaky deep breath, exhaled. 

"Did you dream about her?" Ramseys voice cut through the silence after a few minutes, and Meryl nodded carefully, "Dont... don't wanna talk about it." He nodded understandingly, and moved his arms carefully to wrap around her, holding her close. Meryl just exhaled shakily, leaning more into him.

It took a while, but Ramsey stayed awake until Meryl was out again, pressed against him, still vaguely shaking, maybe from the cold- he wasn't sure, and pulling the blanket over both of them didn't help much. He would probably have to tell Perce about this incident, she always worried when one of them seemed a lot tireder than they normally were.

Right now, he was just gonna be Meryls guard, holding her close against him and closing his eyes, resting his head on her shoulder. He wasn't going to let anything hurt her.


End file.
